Bonds
by Lucanite
Summary: A story exploring the relationships within the Tsubasa family. Starts in the Land of Outo Arc
1. Chapter 1

Bonds

Chapter 1: The Hard Way

"Here we go Kid," the voice shouted.

The pebbles came flying at him from all directions. Instinctively he began to dodge, which was a pretty hard thing to do while balancing on a rock in the middle of a pond. He jumped and weaved his way through the barrage, even kicking a few of the pebbles out of the way.

"I'm going to make it," he thought to himself.

As soon as had he thought this however one of the pebbles nailed him straight in the middle, knocking him off the rock and into the cold water.

Kurogane let out a sigh of exasperation as he watched Syaoran pull out himself out of the water and back onto the rock.

"Man that kid has a long way to go," he thought.

As Syaoran readied himself again on the rock Kurogane held up a hand signaling him to stop.

"That's enough for now kid," he called out to the dripping wet boy.

"Hai," came the boy's timid reply, his voice sounding weak and unsure of himself.

Kurogane let out another sigh at the sight his pupil slowly making his way over to where the ninja stood under the shade of the cherry trees, limping slightly from where a pebble had bruised his knee earlier in the day. The boy looked truly miserable as he was soaked from head to toe and shivering from his repeated trips into the pond. As he limped towards Kurogane one hand gingerly touched a rising lump on his forehead.

Seeing this Kurogane motioned the boy to come closer. As Syaoran stood in front of the giant ninja, he looked down at his own feet embarrassed at his performance during today's training. He was totally unprepared when Kurogane grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at his.

Syaoran trembled when he felt Kurogane's hand grab him and almost pulled away; fearing that the older man was angry with him, but quickly realized how wrong he was. Kurogane's grip though firm was gentle as he held Syaoran's head up. His stern eyes were gazing not in anger but with care as he studied the injury to Syaoran's forehead.

Syaoran winced as Kurogane gently prodded the lump with one finger, making sure there was no serious injury. As he did so Syaoran stared up into the man's eyes, wondering why he was showing such care.

Kurogane noticed the kid looking up at him with those puppy dog eyes.

"The Mage gave you the perfect nickname for this world," he thought to himself.

He smirked at Syaoran's face saying, "Hey what are you looking at, Little Puppy?" His smirk grew wider as he watched Syaoron's cheeks turn red with embarrassment.

Syaoran felt his face heat up at the mention of the nickname Fai had given him. It wasn't that the nickname bothered him, he secretly enjoyed how Sakura thought it was cute. He was embarrassed though, by the fact that Kurogane was teasing him. He wanted to make this man proud of him to see that nod of approval.

As Kurogane let go off the boy's chin he told him," You're gonna have a nasty lump for few days, let it remind you not to rely on your sight to dodge."

"Hai," came the boy's weak reply as he looked down again, still blushing in embarrassment at the nickname.

Syaoran had a particularly difficult day in training. Kurogane realized they couldn't go back to the pebble training with the boy depressed like this. It would sink his spirits even lower. But dealing with feelings and kids wasn't his forte; he left that for the mage to handle.

Sighing in again in defeat he pulled out the strip of white cloth. As he did so he noticed Syaoran's eyes widened in fear for a second at the sight of the cloth.

"What the…," Kurogane thought as he handed the cloth to the boy. This was something he hadn't seen before.

Syaoran hesitated for a moment before obediently wrapping the cloth around his head, plunging him into darkness.

As he started to move towards the bridge he felt Kurogane's hand gently grab his shoulder.

"You know the drill kid," Kurogane said in calm slow voice as he leaned down to the boy's height, "Just take it nice and slow."

Syaoran simply nodded. Though he seemed calm and collected on the outside Kurogane's hand felt his heart beating rather quickly. The boy was afraid of something.

Deciding that he'd talk to the mage about it later, Kurogane released Syaoran's shoulder and walked away.

As Kurogane left to go about his own business Syaoran heard him call out, "And try to be home before dinner this time."

**Hey all I'm back from my long hiatus. Please review and rate. I'll be redoing my profile page so you can see my ideas for various stories and how my updates are coming along. **


	2. Chapter 2

Bonds

Chapter 2: The Lonely Fear

The darkness closed in around him; blocking his vision, choking him with fear.

His eyes blindfolded, his heart racing, Syaoran made his way back, slowly stumbling along the cherry blossom strewn streets of the land of Outo.

Yes, he was afraid of the darkness, but it was different from any ordinary fear. It wasn't an irrational childish fear of monsters and bogeymen. It was a fear that was born from being blind in one eye, a fear of what stalked outside his limited field of vision. A fear that had been pounded into many times by bullies and miscreants since the time when he was little. Bad things came for him from the darkness where his right eye should be seeing, bad things that hurt him.

This blindness that had partially defined him for his entire life had made him afraid of what he could not see. Seishiro had helped him somewhat. He had taught him how to fight; gave him the ability to fight the enemies that came from the darkness, but not the darkness itself or the fear it gave. Being blindfolded scared him more than any fear he had ever known.

Syaoran turned down an alley and walked straight into a wall.

"Another reason why I hate this training," he thought as he clutched his injured nose with one hand and covered his once again throbbing head injury with the other.

He was cold. The cool breeze that stirred the cherry blossom froze his still damp body, Making his movements sluggish and ungraceful.

Bracing himself against the wall he managed to stand up. He a small cry and bit his lip as the crippling flash of pain in his knee reminded him that it too was injured, another sign of his failure.

He had to get back, he had to be strong. He couldn't let the others see him like this especially Kurogane. He couldn't let him know that he was afraid.

Fai would be understanding, Fai was always understanding; but Kurogane wouldn't understand, couldn't understand his fear. Kurogane would think he was just being childish and immature.

Kurogane would think he was weak.

Ignoring the pain in his knee, Syaoran quickly wiped away the single tear that had managed to escape his eye, with agonizing slowness he began to limp foreword.

He wanted to rip the blindfold off; he wanted to end the fear that was threatening to overwhelm him. He wanted too more than anything...except he'd be failing them all. Sakura, Fai, Mokena; they were all counting on him to get stronger. Besides...

Kurogane would be disappointed in him.

He was on a main road now, desperately trying to navigate through the throng of red hazy outlines of people and the blue outlines of nonliving objects and buildings his mind's eye saw. He was too inexperienced; there were to many people, to many things for his underdeveloped mental sense to take in. More than once he heard the harsh rebuke of someone he had bumped into, the pain his body felt as he tripped over the feet of others, the mocking laughter of people who called him a freak for limping around with a blindfold over his eyes.

They had called him a freak before too, back in Clow Country, when he had the bandage over his damaged right eye; back where his memories began. Afterwords they had done things much worse than name calling.

He found a quiet side alley, away from the people and busyness of the main road, and sat down on the ground against the wall overcome by the dark memories of his childhood. He hugged his legs to chest; making him smaller to mirror how he felt, small and helpless, fearful and weak.

And cold, he was so cold. He sat there shivering as the day rapidly turned to night and the temperature dropped.

He was ashamed by how much the darkness affected him. No matter how strong he thought he had become, no matter how strong he appeared to the others, he had been reduced to this. A whimpering boy hiding from from his monsters. A little kid scared of the bogeymen in the dark.

The problem was that he had looked under the bed and found out that monsters really did live in the dark. He had never been able to have the child-like belief that the world was good, he had seen the truth to quickly.

Only his father had been there to protect him from the dark and now he was gone too. Gone and left him alone and defenseless.

"What's wrong with me?" he wondered. Why was he feeling so depressed. He had met Sakura hadn't he, the shining light had kept him sane after his father died. He had friends now too, friends that would be with him and protect him if necessary. But none of them were here now.

Oh, how he wished someone else was here with him. Sakura, Fai, Kurogane even Mokena would have been nice. Just someone who would be there in the darkness for him.

The most horrible thing about the darkness was that it made you so alone.

**A very angsty chapter. Please review!!!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

Bonds

Chapter 3: Mistakes of the Past

"Kurogane's back, Kurogane's back," Mokena happily chirped as he bounced happily chirped as he bounced towards the café's front door.

"Shut up," Kurogane shouted at him, "stupid little white bun."

"Ooh," Mokena moaned, his ears drooped in sadness,"Kurogane is in a such bad mood and I was just happy to see him."

"Enough of your whining," Kugone told him.

"Hyuu~ Kuro-puu's back," Fai said as he stepped into the main room with his happy face plastered on, "but Syaoran-kun's nowhere in sight.

He wagged his finger at the ninja as if he was a naughty boy caught doing something wrong, "are you making him walk home blindfolded again?"

"What do you think," came the ninja's gruff reply, "the kid has to learn."

Fai brought his hands to his face in mock surprise. "Oh, Kuro-puu's so mean to our little Syaoran," he whined.

Mokena went bouncing up to Fai. "Syaoran has to do Kuro-puu's training so he can become big and strong," he happily chirped.

"That's Kurogane to you," Kurogane said as he took a light swing at the bouncing white fluff ball.

"Kuro-tan missed me, Kuro-tan missed me," Mokena sang out as he hopped away to go see what Sakura was doing.

Looking back at the mage, who seemed to be enjoying the scene way too much, Kurogane sighed and said, "Actually there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Hyuu~ Kuro-puu wants to talk with me?" Fai said, his head tilted, "what about?"

"The boy," Kurogane answered.

Fai complexion quickly became quiet and thoughtful.

"His true self," Kurogane thought," Why does he hide behind that mask of happiness."

It irked him to know that Fai's personality was false, a defense he used to hide his real self. He wanted to know the mage's past and secrets. But he never forced the issue, after all he had his own dark past that he would rather be left hidden.

"How is he doing?" Fai asked in a quiet voice.

Kurogane scratched his head, "I'm not sure, he had a rough day training and seemed a little down."

"But it's Syaoran-kun, he'll probably be back to normal once he sees Sakura," Fai offered.

Kurogane shook his head. "The thing is," he began, "When I handed him the blindfold I saw real fear in his eyes."

"Fear? Syaoron-kun's afraid of something?" Fai asked.

"I don't know he hasn't mentioned anything it's just…"

The smile returned to Fai's face "I see, Kuro-tan is worried about Syaoran-kun," he preened.

"No it's not like that," Kurogane practically shouted, drawing the stares of the customers in the café. "I mean," he corrected himself, "He's my student and I need to know that nothing is going to hinder his training."

"It's ok to care about him," Fai replied, "They're both under our care."

"If only you believed that yourself," Kurogane said under his breath.

Ignoring him Fai continued on, "Syaoran probably hasn't said anything to us because he's ashamed that he's afraid."

"Afraid of what though?" asked Kurogane.

"We'll just have to ask him ourselves when he comes back," answered Fai, "We all have fears, we all come from messed up pasts; we just need to show Syaoron-kun that he doesn't have to go through it alone."

"Keeping it all in is bad for you, he can't dwell on the mistakes of the past," Kurogane said giving Fai a knowing look, "he just needs to prepare for the present."

Fai threw him a look annoyance.

"The point is not to spill your heart," Fai said, "You just need to know that there's someone who will listen."

"Especially at his age to" Fai continued.

"Is everything alright," Sakura said as she walked up to them, holding Mokena in her arms.

"Hai," said Fai instantly becoming his usual cheery self, "We were just talking Syaoran-kun."

"Really," she said, her eyes lighting up, "What about?"

"We just need to have a nice long family talk tonight," Fai continued.

"Geez, this gonna be an awful night," Kurogane thought, "Why does he always call us a family."

**A lighter chapter with some Kuro/Fai friendship. Please make my day and review!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

Bonds

Chapter 4: The Painful Remembrance

_Hot winds blew through the dusty streets of the desert village. People hurried about their own business, never taking notice of the small boy in black. To them he was just one of the many orphans that always roamed the streets. With the bandages around one of his eyes it was obvious he wouldn't last much longer anyway._

_The said boy was sitting with his knees hugged to his chest, his visible eye focused on nothing. He had no idea why he was here. He had no memories of anything. All he knew about himself was his name…Syaoran, but that didn't matter because no one else knew it. He knew other things though. He knew he was hungry but no one would give him food. He knew his feet hurt from roaming the streets barefoot looking for anything recognizable, anything to jog his memory. He knew it would soon be night again and he would be cold because he had nowhere to go. He knew the gangs might find him again and beat him up. Maybe he wouldn't last the night. Maybe that was for best. At least he wouldn't be in pain anymore if he was dead._

_His thoughts were interrupted by a shadow falling over him and a pair of feet standing in front of him. Syaoran slowly raised his head up to see a kind looking man with glasses staring at him._

_"Hello there," he told the boy as he knelt down to his level, "My name is Fujitaka, what's yours?"_

_His name? No one had ever asked him for that before. "Syaoran," he said in a small voice._

_The kind man smiled. "Syaoran-kun, what a nice name."_

_Syaoran just stared in wonder at the man, the first person that he remembered ever talking to him._

_Fujitaka stood up. "I'm investigating some ruins in the desert, would you like to come with me?"_

_He didn't know what investigating some ruins meant, but if he didn't have to be alone anymore…_

_The boy slowly nodded his head._

_The Fulitaka's smile got bigger and he held out his hand to help the Syaoran up. Syaoran reached hesitantly for the hand and tried to stand up. As soon as he applied weight to his feet though he fell back down again, hissing in pain. Fujitaka grew concerned when he noticed the Syaoran's feet had begun to bleed._

_He grew more concerned when the boy curled up again; one hand covering his eye, trying to stop the tears that were flowing as he began to cry._

_Fujitaka knelt down next to the boy again. "What's wrong?" he asked._

_"I can't walk," he said as his little voice trembled, "now you can't take me with you." With that he put his head between his knees and began to quietly sob._

_"Hey now, who said that," Fujitaka said as he placed his hand on the boy's head._

_Syaoran looked up at him, his hopeful eye staring into Fujitaka's caring face._

_Fujitaka placed his hands beneath the boy's arms and carefully lifted him up, letting Syaoran rest his head against his shoulder. It was dusk now and the temperature was rapidly dropping, so he wrapped his green cloak around the boy to keep him warm._

_"I feel...safe," Syaoran thought.  
_

_"I think we should go see doctor first," Fujitaka told the boy._

_Syaoran was barely listening though, the warmth of the cloak and the beating of Fujitaka's heart was making him sleepy._

_"Fuji… Fuji," he started to say but stopped as he couldn't remember the strange sounding name._

_"It's ok little one," Fujitaka whispered to the boy, "Just call me otou-san."_

_"Otou-san," Syaoran sighed before finally falling into a restful sleep._

_

* * *

  
_

The present Syaoran lifted his head from his knees. It had been in an alleyway like this that his dad had found him, his first memory and his most precious. His father had saved his life and given him reason to live. His father had introduced him to Sakura and encouraged his friendship with her. His father had given him everything.

He had always tried to please his father. He felt guilty about the cost of all his medical bills and tried to make himself as useful as a small child could be. He knew that he hadn't been the easiest child to love; his lack of memory had made it so he hadn't known how to express his emotions to others, to show his father that he loved him. His only wish was that he could truly thank him for all that he had done.

Syaoran stood up. "I'm not making him proud just sitting here," he thought.

With that he pressed on. The memories of his dad always lifted his spirits a little.

It was near sunset when he reached the café. He smiled as he realized he had accomplished his goal. As he stepped through the door still blindfolded he heard a deep voice call out to him, "Kid, come sit down over here."

"Hai, Otou-san," he said without thinking as he took off the blindfold.

The café was empty except for the rest of the gang sitting around one large table; they were all staring at him in shock.

"Huh," his eyes suddenly went wide as he realized what he said. His face turned red with embarrassment as he looked to the large ninja he had addressed so inappropriately.

"Kid," Kurogane simply said.

Syaoran turned around and ran out the door.

"Hey Kid," Kurogane called out after him.

"Syaoran-kun," cried out Fai.

But he was already too far away to hear them.

**Ah suspense, what's going to happen now? Please review!!!**

**P.S.- For those who don't know. Otou-san means father/dad.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Bonds

Chapter 5: This Present Time

_"Hey Kid," Kurogane called out after him._

_"Syaoran-kun," cried out Fai._

_But he was already too far away to hear them._

They stood staring in shock at the doorway that Syaoran had run out of. Fai was the first to recover.

Turning to Kurogane he said, "You have to go after him."

"What, why don't you…" he stopped when he saw that Fai's face was deadly serious.

"Normally I would go in these instances, but this time I can't," Fai said, "because he was talking to you."

"I…I don't know what to say to him," Kurogane scratched his head, "This is usually your area."

"As much as I would like to…," Fai sighed, "I'll have to talk to him later, right now he needs you."

"I still don't know what to say," Kurogane said, the situation was moving too fast for his liking.

"Syaoran's scared and confused right now; he was obviously shocked by what he said," Fai stepped closer to Kurogane, "He needs to know that you believe in him; that you care about him."

"If your there for him, he'll open up to us," Fai said as he took a step back.

"It's not comfortable in this situation either," Kurogane said.

"I know but you'll do fine," Fai answered, "just be yourself; that's what Syaoran wants, somebody he can look up to."

"Where is he?" Kurogane asked, knowing that somehow Fai would know.

Fai told him.

* * *

_"Hai, Outo-san."_

The words kept playing through his mind as he ran. He didn't know where he was going. He was barely even aware of his surroundings as he ran as hard as he could.

"Stupid, stupid," he kept yelling at himself. "How could you say that to him," the dark part of his mind taunted him.

His injured knee felt like it was on fire but he still continued to run.

"Now he'll never respect you, now he'll think your weak and needy," his inner torturer continued to mock him, "You're just a burden to them all; a weak, needy child who is afraid of the dark doesn't belong with them, A week, needy child like you doesn't deserve to be with them."

"Shut Up!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. His mind was playing on his every fear and terror. His fear of being rejected by the others, his fear of being of alone, his fear of the dark…

Suddenly his knee gave out, sending him toppling headfirst into a wall.

"Argh," he screamed. Biting his lip, he tried to stifle his cries. He curled into a ball on the ground, both hands clasped over his forehead, eyes screwed shut in agony. He dimly noted the blood that began to trickle through his fingers.

"What have I done now?" he thought gravely, "Where am I?"

He hesitantly opened his good eye. A quick assessment of his surroundings told he was in an old alleyway, one that wasn't used often or that had any lighting.

"This isn't good," Syaoran thought fearfully. He could tell by the feeling in his leg that walking wasn't an option right now and if no one was around to help him… besides it was already dark now.

"Now your all alone in the dark, just like you knew you'd be."

Although the moon shone very little of its light reached the narrow alley. To Syaoran's mind he was staring into absolute darkness.

The old familiar fear took control of him. He sat up, back against the wall and slowly brought his injured knees to his chest to hide his face in them. This was his defensive position, his shelter to keep him from having to look out at the world.

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening," he repeated to himself over and over in his mind.

There was no denying it this time, he was terrified.

* * *

Kurogane hurried through the city towards his destination. The streets were mostly empty at this time of night but that did little to alleviate his concern. He started heading down backstreets and alleys; he didn't doubt Fai's directions but wondered what could have driven the boy to run this far away.

He paused as he entered a particularly small dark alley. From the look of things nothing good ever happened here. He was about to turn and leave when he noticed a small form huddled against the wall. He saw the clothing and quickly realized that it was the boy.

Kurogane studied him for a few moments. He had never seen the kid like this. The way he was curled up, the rapid hurried breaths of someone in panic mode. He grimly noted some blood, staining the wavy brown hair.

He moved quietly towards him, not wanting to startle the boy; though in this state he probably wouldn't have noticed no matter how loud Kurogane was. He knelt in front of him.

"Hey Kid, are you alright?" he asked him in a gentle voice.

The body shuddered and then Syaoran slowly raised his head. Kurogane looked into the sad, tear streaked, bloodstained face of the boy.

Syaoran looked at him for a moment before realizing who it was. His eyes trembled as if he was going to cry again.

"Kurogane-san," he said before desperately lunging forward and wrapping his arms around the ninja.

Sighing Kurogane wrapped his own arms around the boy and pulled him into the hug.

**Please review!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

Bonds

Chapter 6: A True Bond

Kurogane held him close for few moments, letting Syaoran have the contact he so desperately craved.

Afterwards he sat down against the wall, Indian style, and shifted the boy so that he was sitting on one of Kurogane's knees. Syaoran's pants were torn at the knees, revealing numerous scrapes and cuts and one knee that was swollen with a blackish tinge to it. His face was scratched up but his forehead was by far the worst. Where the lump had been before the skin was now split and bleeding profusely. Currently the boy was resting his head against Kurogane's chest; this unusual behavior made Kurogane suspect that he had a mild concussion on top of everything else.

"Crap," he said as he surveyed the extent of Syaoran's injuries, "What did you do to yourself?"

"Sorry," the boy mumbled, he hated being a burden to others. "Are you mad at me?" he asked timidly.

"No," Kurogane sighed, "Though I am going to let the mage fuss over you when we get back."

Syaoran inwardly groaned. With the numerous injuries he had and Fai's bandaging techniques he knew that he'd be resembling a mummy soon. And Sakura wouldn't be happy with him either once she saw him.

There was a moment of silence between them; each not knowing what to say to the other.

"Are you mad at me for…before?" Syaoran finally managed to ask.

Kurogane thought for a moment before answering. "No, not mad, confused yes, but not mad," he placed one of his hands on the boys head, "Why did you run away?"

Syaoran inwardly groaned and on the outside it came out as a small whine. His body hurt, his head ached and he was tired. This line of questioning was only going to be embarrassing for him and he really didn't want to answer. But Kurogane was looking down at him expecting an explanation.

He shifted around a bit, trying to find the least painful position before saying in a voice barely above a whisper, "I don't know."

Kurogane had expected something resistance like this; he understood the desire to keep your thoughts and feelings secret from everyone else. He wasn't going to force the issue, especially with Syaoran in this state. Still though, he wanted some clue as to what was going on inside the boy's head and there was still the issue of what was making him. Any doubt that the boy had some deep fear was removed from the ninja's mind when he had found the boy curled up like that in the alley, when he had thrown himself so desperately into his arms.

"You don't have to tell me now," Kurogane said. He noted that Syaoran's body immediately relaxed. "But we will talk about this later." He added.

Syaoran nodded against Kurogane's chest, relieved that he didn't have to talk about anything now, that his feelings could be only his problem for a little while longer.

"We should head back; the others are worried about you," Kurogane stated.

Syaoran nodded again and tried to stand up only to be surprised by Kurogane grabbing his arm and yanking him back down.

"What do you think you're doing!" Kurogane shouted his voice stern, anger and annoyance clearly audible.

"I'm sorry!" Syaoran cried out, startled and frightened by Kurogane's sudden change in attitude.

He started shaking, afraid of angering the man further, but Kurogane still carried on.

"You need to start taking care of yourself; trying to walk with an injury like that is what got you stuck in this alley in the first place."

Syaoran began to curl up again, trying to make himself smaller; something that Kurogane recognized as a defensive reflex, a coping technique. Realizing that the boy felt alone and defenseless, Kurogane circled his arms around the curled up form and brought him close to his chest again. After a few moments the shaking stopped.

"We're going home," Kurogane said as he stood up with the boy in his arms, he shifted him around so that the boy could lay his head on Kurogane's shoulder. "I don't want you walking on that knee until it's fully healed, understand.

"Hai," came Syaoran's dejected reply.

"Ugh," Kurogane thought. He had made the boy miserable again; this was why he was not cut out to deal with kids. This day had been incredibly stressful for both of them.

"Hey...I'm not mad at you," he said as he began walking, "I was just worried that you were going to hurt yourself again." He brought his hand up and rubbed the back of Syaoran's head. "Ok?" he asked.

"Hai," came Syaoran's answer, this time sounding much more happy and content. Kurogane wasn't mad at him so nothing was wrong.

As they headed back Syaoran felt his eyelids drooping. The events of the day had left him totally exhausted. The constant rhythm of Kurogane's heart plus the motion of walking was lulling him to sleep. The extra body heat felt nice too. He tried fighting it for a few minutes but eventually gave in letting sleep take his aches and pains away. Sighing once he drifted off to happy dreams.

Kurogane heard the boy sigh and felt his breathing become slow and regular. He smirked at the tough guy who had started to lightly snore. He just hoped that the boy didn't drool on him.

As he neared the café he heard a sleep filled voice say, "_A-ri-ga-to Otou-san."_

Kurogane smiled and carried him through the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Bonds

Chapter 7: Protection

Fai was sitting at the bar when Kurogane came in. He had closed the shop a while ago, anticipating their return. He rolled his eyes when he saw Kurogane carrying the sleeping Syaoran, so much for the tough, hard, uncaring ninja. Although he didn't know how their meeting had gone or what they had talked about, it at least appeared to have ended well.

"Here's something for you," Kurogane said as walked towards Fai, "Passed out from exhaustion finally on the way back."

Fai smiled as he knew Kurogane meant the boy and at the way Syaoran's arms had wrapped around Kurogane's neck in his sleep. He quickly became concerned though when he saw the state Syaoran was in.

"He got pretty banged up out there," Kurogane continued, noting the worried face Fai was making, "he shouldn't have been walking, let alone running on that knee."

"Lay him down here," Fai commanded as he cleared off a space on the bar.

Syaoran moaned softly as Kurogane set him down on the cold wooden counter top, missing the warmth that had lulled him to sleep.

"Shh," Fai whispered softly to the boy as he checked over Syaoran's various injuries.

While most were just relatively minor cuts and bruises, the forehead and knee worried him.

"Kuro-san, can you bring me some bandages and hot water?"

"Sure thing," Kurogane agreed, he wanted the boy fixed up as best as possible.

While Kurogane was getting what he had requested, Fai began to work.

Taking a pair of scissors he cut off the ragged lower remains of Syaoran's pants at the knees. When Kurogane returned the boy was just dressed in his black undershirt and what looked like a pair of ragged black shorts.

"Where's the girl and the bun?" Kurogane asked as he placed a large bowl of warm water on the bar with some bandages and rags.

"Sleeping," Fai answered simply as he wet one of the rags and began to dab away the dried blood from Syaoran's face.

As he began to clean the gash on the forehead Syaoran's eyes squinted in pain and then fluttered open.

Fai-san?" Syaoran said confused about where he was. His eyes were hazy, showing that he wasn't fully awake. His hand slowly trailed up towards his forehead to find out what was hurting him. Fai however, quickly stopped his hand.

"No touching it now, Syaoran-kun," he said with his biggest grin, "I have to clean and wrap it so it won't get infected."

"Nooo!" Syaoran loudly whined, causing Kurogane; who was cleaning one of the scrapes on the boy's legs, to look up quickly, "I'm not a mummy!"

"But Syaoran-kun," Fai happily said, playing along, "you'd make such a cute mummy."

"Nu-uh," Syaoran said as he comically shook his head.

"Is he really awake?" Kurogane asked, puzzled at the boy's behavior.

"Of course not," Fai answered matter-of-factly, "that or he hit his head harder than we thought, so I opt for the first explanation."`

"Mummies are icky," Syaoran continued, totally ignoring the other two, "And they have to stay buried… in the dark" his voice trailed off.

Both Fai and Kurogane looked back at the boy wondering why he had suddenly stopped talking. Fai was the first to realize what was going on.

"You don't like the dark do you?" he asked the boy.

Syaoran shuddered at his words, confirming Fai's suspicions.

"Why?" Fai simply asked, his voice betrayed his concern.

Syaoran's hand came up again, this time though to cover his blind eye. He was quiet for a moment.

"Bad…things come from the dark," he finally said in a small, terrified voice.

"Does that make you scared of the dark," Fai continued. He felt bad for taking advantage of the boy's half-asleep state, but they needed to know.

Syaoran nodded in answer and began to unconsciously curl up again. Kurogane and Fai however quickly stopped him.

"We haven't finished cleaning these, kid," Kurogane stated.

"It's ok Syaoran-kun, we're both right here," Fai said, trying to comfort the boy.

"I'm tired," Syaoran whined softly, his eyelids were staring to droop, "you won't let anything bad come will you?"

"Of course not," Fai answered, "we'll protect you."

Sheer exhaustion proved to be stronger than fear and Syaoran quickly sunk back into a deep slumber.

"There's your answer Kuro-sama," Fai whispered, not wanting to wake the boy again, "he's afraid of the dark."

"It has to be deeper than that," Kurogane said as he shook his head, "You saw how he covered up that eye of his while he was talking." Fai nodded in agreement.

"He's probably been too embarrassed to talk about it with anybody," Fai observed.

Kurogane gazed at Syaoran. Sleep erased the determined look he usually carried, making him look younger, but also weaker and defenseless. Kurogane felt the strange urge of wanting to protect this kid. He felt concerned when he realized how much fear and pain Syaoran tried to carry alone.

"When will you learn little one, that you can't shoulder everything by yourself," he thought.

"He'll learn if we're patient with him," Fai commented, guessing what Kurogane was thinking, "he'll learn that he's not a burden to us."

Kurogane sighed in frustration, "It's mostly him trying not to be a burden that ends up making him one."

Fai began wrapping the bandages around Syaoran's forehead.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow once he wakes up; find out how he's doing," the mage said.

"It's your turn anyway," the ninja agreed.

Once Fai had finished Kurogane carried Syaoran to his bed. Seeing Fai's handiwork he had to admit that Syaoran's fears of the mage's first-aid techniques was well founded; there seemed to be more bandages than boy. He felt sorry for his little mummy; those bandages would itch like crazy in the morning.

After he had tucked the Syaoran in, he paused for a moment to brush Syaoran's hair away from his face.

"No matter what your fear is, as long as I'm here I'll protect you," he told the sleeping boy.

**Please Review!!! They seriously motivate me!**


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